Diet Riot

Earlier this week, the New York Times took a skeptical look at The Fertility Diet, a new book that promises "a safer, natural, and virtually free way to improve fertility." The authors, a trio of Harvard researchers, propose "ten simple changes in diet and lifestyle."

Those changes run heavily to suggestions like, "Eat more fruits and vegetables," "Eat less animal protein," and "Avoid trans-fats" — you know, everything everybody already knows about nutrition in general. Everything we should all be doing anyway. (Note to self: Do Cheez-Its count as healthful full-fat dairy product? Research.)

The Times article points out that the suggestions contained in the book aren't relevant "to a vast majority of people with infertility problems. Instead, they are based on women with ovulatory infertility, a condition caused by irregular ovulation that affects fewer than a third of infertile women." The authors, to their credit, are aware of their work's limitations, warning that "[the book] is not a cure for infertility. We have been very careful in explaining what we think these dietary changes can do and what they cannot do."

The lead author concedes that the way the book is being promoted oversimplifies the findings it presents. But even given the authors' candor, there remains a risk, notes the author of the Times article, that people suffering from infertility will find in the book yet another reason to feel responsible for their bodies' impaired ability to conceive.

What? An infertile person feeling guilty and blaming herself? Oh, go on with you. Why, I never heard the like.

I know plenty of us have made significant dietary changes while cycling to boost our chances of conception. Some people switch to an all-organic diet; some concentrate on consuming more protein; some go vegetarian; and some simply cut out everything with names beginning in "Mc-" or ending in "-ito." (I'm just as committed to healthful eating as the next infertile woman, but I have to confess that I found it excruciating to give up my beloved Zesty McBacon Saltitos. I am still lobbying to get the manufacturer to change the name to Tangy O'Bacon MSGee-Whizzlers, but my one-woman campaign has been thus far fruitless.)

Now that I'm pregnant and therefore awesomely fertile, I am the perfect paragon to serve as an example to anyone hoping to conceive. So I will selflessly detail for you my own fertility diet, the one I followed for countless months to get me where I am today.

Cycle day(s)

Intake

Notes

1

Giant bloody Fred Flintstone-style steak, served without a fork, knife, or napkin

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